Published: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 5:58 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, January 20, 2013 at 5:58 p.m.

ARDEN - Melissa Green looked around the room at the Arden Community Health Fair and wondered where to start. There were masseuses working out kinks in one corner, clinicians checking feet in another and a whole crew testing cholesterol and blood pressure.

With her 4-year-old son, Jack, in tow, Green came from Hendersonville to Arden Seventh-Day Adventist Church for the ninth annual health fair at the urging of her mother, Pamela Ditto.

“I haven't been checked out since he was born,” Green said sheepishly, nodding at Jack. When her son gets sick, they go to Blue Ridge Community Health Services on Chimney Rock Road, she said, “because they have a sliding-scale fee. You can't go to the E.R.; they charge you hundreds of dollars.”

Green was one of several hundred uninsured or underinsured residents of Henderson and Buncombe counties who took advantage of the fair's 10 free health screenings Sunday. Green got checked for diabetes, which runs in her family, and smiled when the report came back clear. “You just never know,” she said.

Others took advantage of free screenings for oral cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, as well as tests for bone density, body mass index, hearing loss, vision changes and foot problems. A partnership between Park Ridge Health and the church, the health fair started targeting uninsured and underinsured residents last year.

“When we started promoting it that way, we got a lot more of those people,” said Dr. DeWayne Butcher, a former Emergency Department medical director at Park Ridge Health and the event's chairman. “A lot of people have insurance, but they have a high deductible.”

According to The Free Clinics, about 22 percent of Henderson County adults ages 18-64 have no health insurance. Even after implementation of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare,” health experts estimate roughly 12,000 county residents will not be covered by insurance.

Over its nine years, the Arden health fair has literally helped save lives, said volunteer coordinator Walt Hutton, both by catching health problems early and through its blood drive, which runs from 8 a.m. to noon Monday.

“The stories we get out of every health fair are amazing,” Hutton said. “Prostate cancers found, skin cancers found. One gentleman walked in to have his blood pressure screened, and it was so dangerously high, he left on a stretcher.”

More than 75 volunteers from the church and community help run the health fair. Jodi Grabowski, Park Ridge Health's community outreach coordinator, said the doctors who give their time to help screen people are particularly generous.

“They're giving up their Sunday and (Martin Luther King) holiday to offer their expertise to people who might not otherwise receive their help, which is really nice,” she said.

The Arden Community Health Fair runs from 8 a.m. to noon Monday at the Arden Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 35 Airport Road in Arden.

<p>ARDEN - Melissa Green looked around the room at the Arden Community Health Fair and wondered where to start. There were masseuses working out kinks in one corner, clinicians checking feet in another and a whole crew testing cholesterol and blood pressure.</p><p>With her 4-year-old son, Jack, in tow, Green came from Hendersonville to Arden Seventh-Day Adventist Church for the ninth annual health fair at the urging of her mother, Pamela Ditto. </p><p>“I haven't been checked out since he was born,” Green said sheepishly, nodding at Jack. When her son gets sick, they go to Blue Ridge Community Health Services on Chimney Rock Road, she said, “because they have a sliding-scale fee. You can't go to the E.R.; they charge you hundreds of dollars.”</p><p>Green was one of several hundred uninsured or underinsured residents of Henderson and Buncombe counties who took advantage of the fair's 10 free health screenings Sunday. Green got checked for diabetes, which runs in her family, and smiled when the report came back clear. “You just never know,” she said.</p><p>Others took advantage of free screenings for oral cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, as well as tests for bone density, body mass index, hearing loss, vision changes and foot problems. A partnership between Park Ridge Health and the church, the health fair started targeting uninsured and underinsured residents last year.</p><p>“When we started promoting it that way, we got a lot more of those people,” said Dr. DeWayne Butcher, a former Emergency Department medical director at Park Ridge Health and the event's chairman. “A lot of people have insurance, but they have a high deductible.”</p><p>According to The Free Clinics, about 22 percent of Henderson County adults ages 18-64 have no health insurance. Even after implementation of the Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare,” health experts estimate roughly 12,000 county residents will not be covered by insurance.</p><p>Over its nine years, the Arden health fair has literally helped save lives, said volunteer coordinator Walt Hutton, both by catching health problems early and through its blood drive, which runs from 8 a.m. to noon Monday.</p><p>“The stories we get out of every health fair are amazing,” Hutton said. “Prostate cancers found, skin cancers found. One gentleman walked in to have his blood pressure screened, and it was so dangerously high, he left on a stretcher.”</p><p>More than 75 volunteers from the church and community help run the health fair. Jodi Grabowski, Park Ridge Health's community outreach coordinator, said the doctors who give their time to help screen people are particularly generous. </p><p>“They're giving up their Sunday and (Martin Luther King) holiday to offer their expertise to people who might not otherwise receive their help, which is really nice,” she said. </p><p>The Arden Community Health Fair runs from 8 a.m. to noon Monday at the Arden Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 35 Airport Road in Arden.</p>